Ohio communities get the power to evict convicted sex offenders

Some experts say the get-tough stance doesn't work.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ohio communities that want to ban convicted sex offenders from living in an area now have a new enforcement tool: the right to evict those who don't abide by the restriction.
While some states, including Minnesota and Colorado, turned away from such laws after commissioning studies, Ohio is among 16 that have embraced the broad approach.
Local officials were given the authority this year to evict offenders who don't voluntarily move, a provision now being felt in Ohio courts.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said his office has filed civil complaints against at least two registered offenders who still live within 1,000 feet of a school, and likely will file 80 more this week.
He disagreed with critics who say the boundary laws have no effect. "You don't know how many people you've deterred," O'Brien said. "Intuitively, I think it's something that makes sense."
Controversial
The get-tough stances spark debate, spawn lawsuits and increase enforcement workloads. They also don't seem to do any good, says a researcher who published a study of sex-offender zoning laws this year.
"They're the kind of laws that sound good in theory," said Jill Levenson, a sexual-violence researcher at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.
"But as of now, there isn't any evidence that it helps. No one has found any connection between proximity to schools and recidivism or sex offending."
If anything, Levenson said, communities might be putting themselves more at risk by creating a false sense of security and isolating offenders from their support systems.
Up to 90 percent of child victims are molested not by strangers hanging out near schools but by friends and relatives, she said.
Examples
In Newark in central Ohio, 33 sex offenders have moved and about a dozen others are under court orders to move. The Licking County city might push restrictions further: Councilmen David Rhodes and Don Ellington want to expand the zone, prohibiting registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of parks, swimming pools and day-care centers as well.
In northeastern Ohio's North Canton, the city council voted last week to expand the zone, prohibiting registered sexual predators from living within 2,500 feet of a school, park, pool, library, day-care center or preschool. A councilman who supports the concept said the city might whittle the distance back to 1,000 feet.
Law questioned
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also questions the need for the laws, saying that people should not be lulled into thinking they offer real protection.
"The best laws in the world will not protect against those who aren't registered," said Carolyn Atwell-Davis, the center's director of legislative affairs. "Parents need to educate themselves and their children."
Eight years ago, Charles McMullen left prison after serving three years for fondling school-age relatives. Now he has been ordered to leave the house he bought in Newark because it sits within 1,000 feet of two schools.
"I served my time, did what I had to do, and I don't bother anybody," said McMullen, a 63-year-old who spends his afternoons baby-sitting his grandchildren. "What gives them the right to take my house away from me?"